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Topic: Nice church you got there, shame if something were to happen to it (Read 2066 times)

Got this from Belgian Teletext, but I'm sure there are articles floating about.The pope is getting pushback from an unexpected corner ... the mafia. Seems Pope Franky has been condemning priests in southern Italy who entertain amicable relations with the Mafia. But that's not the worst of it. Apparently Franky also wants the Vatican bank to ... erm ... stop laundering Mafia money ... come again And this is, again apparently, something of a ... common knowledge.

So, now the Mafia is a bit miffed at Franky and just might do something about it. Can you imagine the thouroughly Catholic Mafia offing the head of the Catholic church?That could easily devolve into a massive bloodbath of ... Catholic on Catholic violence. (Hey, methinks this would make for a smashing short story!!! Machinegun preachers duking it out with mobsters )

Did I go a bit ... ellipsis crazy there?

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2 Interwebs 7:42And in the seventh year, thou shalt cast out the Nam from thine assembly for he haveth a potty mouth.

"When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said 'hello'. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you f**king turn up and say 'well done'."

No lie: first time I saw your avatar I seriously considered changing mine to a pic of Clancy Brown for a while.

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"When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said 'hello'. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you f**king turn up and say 'well done'."

Stop it you guys! Seriously! Now I have Pope Franky, Don Corleone and Sarah Palin in my head, squaring off in the colosseum, with katanas ... Beatrix Kiddo might be there too ... and Spartacus. Morricone is providing the soundtrack.

Stop it you guys! Seriously! Now I have Pope Franky, Don Corleone and Sarah Palin in my head, squaring off in the colosseum, with katanas ... Beatrix Kiddo might be there too ... and Spartacus. Morricone is providing the soundtrack.

This is CLEARLY a sit back and grab the popcorn kind of event. Cheering is optional ... except when it is for maximum carnage.It should be televised/livestreamed ... with televoting ... "and the viewers at home have given Pope Franky ... THE CHAINSAW!"*the crowd goes mad*

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2 Interwebs 7:42And in the seventh year, thou shalt cast out the Nam from thine assembly for he haveth a potty mouth.

This is CLEARLY a sit back and grab the popcorn kind of event. Cheering is optional ... except when it is for maximum carnage.It should be televised/livestreamed ... with televoting ... "and the viewers at home have given Pope Franky ... THE CHAINSAW!"*the crowd goes mad*

Are we doing this Running Man style?

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"When we landed on the moon, that was the point where god should have come up and said 'hello'. Because if you invent some creatures, put them on the blue one and they make it to the grey one, you f**king turn up and say 'well done'."

52. In our time humanity is experiencing a turning-point in its history, as we can see from the advances being made in so many fields. We can only praise the steps being taken to improve people’s welfare in areas such as health care, education and communications. At the same time we have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries are barely living from day to day, with dire consequences. A number of diseases are spreading. The hearts of many people are gripped by fear and desperation, even in the so-called rich countries. The joy of living frequently fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident. It is a struggle to live and, often, to live with precious little dignity. This epochal change has been set in motion by the enormous qualitative, quantitative, rapid and cumulative advances occuring in the sciences and in technology, and by their instant application in different areas of nature and of life. We are in an age of knowledge and information, which has led to new and often anonymous kinds of power.

No to an economy of exclusion

53. Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “disposable” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.

54. In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

He's doomed. Their fact allergy is going to be the death of him.

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"Tell people that there's an invisible man in the sky that created the entire universe and the majority believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure." ~George Carlin

^^^Some of the most compassionate and brave folks I have known are catholic nuns (and a few priests) in poor countries who epitomize these sentiments. They are really trying to do the good things that the bible says to do. And they have a uphill battle, even though most people they are fighting against also claim to be Christians...

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When all of Cinderella's finery changed back at midnight, why didn't the shoes disappear? What's up with that?

I'm finding myself genuinely liking this guy - he's far from perfect, but all things considered he's a huge improvement. He keeps speaking out on topics that really tweak people though, and I'm not entirely joking when I make cracks about his future well being.

My personal experience with nuns has been largely ... not positive, due to a Catholic elementary school education. But I certainly don't assume that all nuns are like the ones I knew from childhood - I was literally cheering on the "nuns on the bus" and making it a point to mention them whenever their story could be slipped into the conversation. I don't pretend to understand the decision to join a convent (I'm far too hedonistic to be that self-denying), but I can certainly respect anyone who works on behalf of others in need.

I see what look to me like three big disconnects within the RCC - US Catholics vs. Catholics in any other country; RCC leadership and the real world; and use of resources/money/influence. This guy looks like he may be ready to tackle at least two of them, which both cheers me up a bit, and makes me expect to hear of his demise at any moment.

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"Tell people that there's an invisible man in the sky that created the entire universe and the majority believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure." ~George Carlin